The United States Soccer Federation shared a controversial photo including an Iran flag without the emblem of the Islamic Republic in a social media post in support of ongoing protests in the country ahead of the USMNT vs. Iran World Cup clash. The post from the U.S. Soccer Federation was criticized by the Iran government, which indicated it had removed the name of God from its flag.
The photo on social media was used as a banner on the U.S. Soccer Federation's Twitter account, displaying the points totals of all the teams in the USMNT's World Cup group. In the post, the Iran flag was displayed only with red, white, and green colors. The U.S. Soccer Federation said its post was in support of anti-government protestors in Iran, more specifically those fighting for women's equality.
“We wanted to show our support for the women in Iran with our graphic for 24 hours,” the U.S. Soccer Federation said in a statement, via ESPN.
The social media account updated its banner a day later to include the official Iranian flag.
Per ESPN, via ISNA, an advisor to the Iranian Football Federation, Safiollah Fagahanopour, indicated that the U.S. violated FIFA's rules with the photo.
“They must be held responsible,” Fagahanpour said. “Obviously they want to affect Iran's performance against the U.S. by doing this.”
The USMNT is set to face Iran in the final match of the 2022 FIFA World Cup group stages in Group B. The United States will be playing for the chance to advance to the next round of the tournament, as will Iran, who is coming off a 2-0 win over Wales.
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